Foreign media: Walmart is preparing to enter the metacosm, planning to create cryptocurrencies and NFTs

Walmart seems to be trying to enter the metaverse space, planning to create its own cryptocurrency and NFTs.

According to CNBC local time reported on January 16, retail giant Walmart applied for several new trademarks at the end of December, indicating that it intends to manufacture and sell virtual goods, including electronic products, home decorations, toys, sporting goods and personal care products. In a separate filing, the company also said it would offer users virtual currency as well as non-homogeneous tokens (NFTs).

According to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, the above application is one in a series filed by Walmart on December 30, 2021, including three applications under Walmart Connect, Walmart's official advertising platform, for financial transactions in virtual currencies and advertising. In addition, "Verse to Store", "Verse to Curb" and "Verse to Home" for shopping services also submitted applications, suggesting that Walmart may be preparing for a virtual shopping experience.

Bloomberg noted that the move represents an important step forward for the retail giant in its research into how to participate in the metacosm. Walmart said in a statement that it is "constantly exploring how emerging technologies are shaping the shopping experience of the future." ”

However, Walmart declined to comment on specific trademark applications.

Walmart's cryptocurrency program

CNBC quoted trademark lawyer Josh Gerben as saying walmart has put a lot of work into the meta-universe initiative. "There's a lot of language in [the document], which shows that there are a lot of plans behind the scenes about how they're going to solve the cryptocurrency problem, as well as the metacosm and the virtual world."

In August 2021, Walmart released a new position responsible for developing a "Digital Currency Strategy and Product Roadmap" while identifying the position as "cryptocurrency-related investments and partnerships." Foreign media said that Walmart may also acquire the existing cryptocurrency business.

In September 2021, an oolong incident brought Walmart's cryptocurrency program to the forefront of attention. On September 13, a fake news story called "Walmart announced a partnership with Litecoin (LTC)" caused the price of Litecoin to rise instantly, rising more than 40% in one hour. In this fake press release, all e-commerce stores will have the option to pay with LTC added.

Although Walmart quickly denied the statement, walmart continued to explore the field afterwards.

In October 2021, Walmart launched a pilot program where consumers will be able to purchase bitcoin through coinstar kiosks. A Walmart spokesperson said there will be 200 Coinstar kiosks in Walmart stores across the United States. Coinstar has partnered with a cryptocurrency cash exchange called Coinme to offer bitcoin exchange services at more than 8,000 kiosks.

In early December 2021, Walmart CFO Brett Biggs said at an analyst conference that the company was open to allowing cryptocurrency payments if consumers needed it, though the company didn't see the need to rush to launch any features.

Many well-known enterprises around the world have entered the NFT market

On October 28 last year, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced at facebook Connect that Facebook would be renamed "Meta", derived from the "Metaverse". Then the world set off a "metacosmic" fever.

Josh Gerben said that since Facebook announced its name change, multiple businesses have been rushing to figure out how to fit into the virtual world, and "all of a sudden, everybody feels like we need to make sure our IP is protected in this area."

Nike filed a series of trademark applications in early November 2021, heralding its plans to sell virtual branded sneakers and apparel. Later that month, Nike also said it would work with Roblox to create an online world called Nikeland. In December, Nike acquired virtual sneaker company RTFKT, but did not disclose the amount of its acquisition.

Recently, clothing maker Gap has also started selling its NFT of iconic logo sweatshirts. The company says its NFTs range from about $8.30 to $415 and come with physical hoodies. At the same time, the new NFT series launched by Under Armour and Adidas last month has been sold out, selling for sky-high prices on the NFT market OpenSea.

Gerben said clothing retailers Urban Outfitters, Ralph Lauren and Abercrombie & Fitch have also applied for trademarks in recent weeks, detailing their intentions to open virtual stores. As more consumers become familiar with the metaverse and objects stored on the blockchain, more and more retailers will want to create their own ecosystems around it.

As for why retailers and brands want to pursue such projects, a report by venture capital data firm CB Insights argues that the launch of NFTs allows businesses to tokenize physical products and services to help reduce online transaction costs. The report also suggests that for luxury brands such as Gucci and Louis Vuitton, NFTs could serve as a form of verification for expensive physical goods.